Rubbing firm food such as cheese or vegetables across a coarse serrated surface reduces it to shreds, and that operation is grating. The kitchen grater’s tooth size sets the result, from fine powder for hard cheese to coarse strands for slaw. Freshly grated cheese melts more evenly than pre-shredded, which carries anti-caking starch. Food plants mechanise the same principle at scale, grating tonnes of cheese and vegetables daily. Blade sharpness and feed rate control shred uniformity. Dull blades bruise product and release excess moisture.